No blood money from insurance company for motorists driving with invalid licence: Dubai Court

The Dubai Court of Cassation has confirmed a legal principle which states that a motorist who causes a fatal road accident while driving with an expired driving licence cannot claim blood money from the insurance company.

This principle was confirmed following a case that a motorist filed with the Dubai Courts, seeking a court order to his car insurer to pay him Dh150,000 as he had already paid blood money to the inheritors of a man he had run over and caused his death on March 11, 2011.

The Traffic Court had found the driver guilty and ordered him to pay Dh150,000 to the relatives of the dead person. After paying the blood money, the driver filed a civil case with the court seeking an order to his car insurer to pay him Dh150,000.

The insurance company argued that the claimant was driving the car with an expired driving licence when the accident happened.

The First Instance Civil Court turned down the motorist’s plea based on the fact that the driving licence was expired.

The driver appealed the verdict. The Court of Appeal accepted the appeal and ordered the insurance company to pay the blood money.

Since the verdict of the Court of Appeal is considered final in civil cases and cannot be appealed by any of the disputing parties before the Cassation Court as per Article No. 174 of the Civil Procedures Law, the insurance company brought an appeal through the Attorney General before the Cassation Court.

The Prosecution’s Advocate-General Abdullah Mohammed Al Tunaiji studied the company’s request and found that the Court of Appeal’s verdict was mistaken.

So the Prosecution submitted an appeal before the Cassation Court which cancelled the verdict of the Court of Appeal and upheld the verdict of the First Instance Court.

The Cassation Court’s ruling stated: “Should a driving licence be expired and its holder fails to renew it within the given grace period and without having a valid justification for that, the motorist has no legal right to drive a car before renewing the licence or obtaining a new one in accordance with the traffic regulations.

“Also, the owner of the car or its driver has no right to ask the car’s insurance company to pay blood money. The insurance company has the right to refuse to pay blood money,” stressed the verdict of the Court of Cassation.
 

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